Concerns raised as Sean Quinn’s nephew remains on the run from jail sentence

The nephew of former billionaire Sean Quinn is on the run from a jail sentence in Ireland as the family dynasty collapses – and relatives are concerned for his well being.

Peter Quinn Jr was sentenced to three months jail time for contempt of court on Friday along with his cousin Sean Jr.

The pair were found guilty of contempt of court and jailed for three months each as the Quinn family contest the downfall of their financial empire.

Sean Jr is already behind bars at Mountjoy prison in Dublin and his father has been given time to consider his attitude to the court in the case.
But Peter Quinn Jr, son of the former GAA president Peter, remains on the run.

Irish police searched his known addresses in the Republic and sources in the North claim he is not at the family home in Fermanagh.

Police from the Republic are powerless to act upon his Dublin summons across the border and cannot issue a European warrant as the case is a civil one.

The Irish Sun newspaper reports that his family have voiced concerns about his ‘well-being and the difficult and frightening’ situation he finds himself in.

Cousin Ciara Quinn told the paper: “I haven’t spoken to Peter and I don’t know where he is. But when you are ordered by a court to do something which physically cannot be done, that leaves you in a very difficult and frightening place.”

The Quinns were found in contempt after a court order was issued forcing them to reverse a scheme whereby assets were put out of the reach of the former Anglo Irish Bank, one of their main creditors.

Sean Quinn Sr has issued a statement decrying the jail sentence and criticising the bankrupt bank which has been bailed out by the Irish taxpayer.

In his statement, Quinn said: “Anglo have treated us like dogs and have tried to put the entire family out on the road with the sole purpose of ensuring my wife and children would not be in a position to challenge the bank’s illegal lending.

“My family have stood up to the bank that took everything from them. This is what you do with bullies.

“My son has now been jailed for failing to do something which he cannot do, whilst five years on, no one affiliated with Anglo’s illegal practices have yet been brought to justice.”

Peter Quinn Jr got a relative to ring his solicitor on Friday morning and inform him that he wouldn’t attend the court hearing as he was ‘ill’.

The judge noted that he had been well enough the previous evening to file affidavits in the early hours and said that, bar hospitalization, there was no reason he should not have appeared before her.